When an automotive vehicle undergoes an inspection during assembly in a manufacturing plant or is made to run without external assistance during transportation from the plant to an automotive store after completion of the assembly, the engine and other devices are started and stopped. At this time, with respect to the engine, there is the problem that the engine comes to a stop before the temperature of the spark plug reaches its self-cleaning temperature, because the time period from start to stop is much shorter than during normal usage. Another problem is that if the vehicle is controlled in a normal manner, it follows that the vehicle comes to a stop during a warm-up operation in which the air-fuel ratio is relatively rich so that the plug tends to smolder. In addition, where the fuel loaded within the plant is different from a destination-matched fuel, knocking may take place, because the engine control corresponds to the destination.
It is known that when a vehicle runs without external assistance for inspection or transportation for delivery from a plant, the controlled contents of the engine are placed in delivery mode different from normal mode, in order to solve the problems. That is, the problems are solved either by making the air-fuel ratio leaner than normal or by retarding the ignition timing by controlling the engine. In this way, a vehicle equipment device such as an engine is switched between normal mode and delivery mode adapted for transportation by a control apparatus such as an ECU (electrical control unit)
In a well-known technique for switching the operation for engine control between normal mode and delivery mode by an ECU, the switching operation is performed by engagement and disengagement of a dedicated connector (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid Open Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-37025). According to this technique, the dedicated connector and harness are mounted. When the connector is connected, it is judged that the vehicle is in the delivery mode. When the connector is disconnected, it is judged that the vehicle is not in the delivery mode.
In the above-described control apparatus, however, the connector and harness are mounted to judge the delivery mode. This increases the number of components, presenting the problem that the cost of manufacturing the vehicle is increased. In addition, in an automotive store, an operation for disconnecting the connector is required, i.e., a cumbersome operation is needed. Further, in a store, if the staff forgets to disconnect the connector or the user erroneously connects the connector, the user will use the vehicle while kept in the delivery mode.